Indian pickles

I love Indian-style pickles and condiments. Love. Brinjal pickle, garlic pickle, coriander pickle... mmmm. Unfortunately I only live semi-close to one Indian grocer. While I love the taste of the pickles they stock, I've recently noticed something that rang a few alarm bells - all the brands they stock make their pickles with cottonseed oil.

Now, I know there's a lot of debate regarding cottonseed oil. Is it good for you? Is it a poisonous mixture of death? What concerns me most is not the composition of the cottonseed oil itself (which is still of some concern - I didn't know you could eat cotton?), but the potential that it contains a lot of pesticide residues (as cotton is not a food crop, there are fewer restrictions on pesticide use - and I am not a fan of pesticides, especially not eating them). What are people's thoughts on this? I only discovered this very very recently and have not had the chance to do extensive research yet - and these pickles are the only product I buy which contains it.

In the meanwhile, I thought that I might have a go at making them myself! I had a look at the ingredients list and the pickles generally seem to contain a main ingredient (eggplant, garlic, etc.) along with oil and a bunch of spices. However, I am a complete novice in making anything pickle-related. Has anyone tried this before/does anyone have any good recipes? I'd be much appreciative of any assistance you can offer! =)